Punisher: Armor Wars Journal
by AzureSpider
Summary: One-shot set in a Marvel Universe where the Punisher works for a Tony Stark-led version of SHIELD, and reaps the benefits of such allegiances. Most prominently, his own suit of power armor with which to reign death down on the evils of the world like never before. War Machine doesn't like it, but Punisher doesn't care; against Hydra or whoever else, he's got ordinance to spare.


**Author's Notes: This one was inspired by Punisher's current, seriously rocking and awesome War Machine armor that he's been wearing in the more recent comics. I know a lot of folks have been grousing about Marvel's more recent comics, but Punisher at least I think is pretty cool. And him in War Machine armor is better than Riri Williams Ironheart at any rate.**

 **However, this story doesn't take place in 616 (obviously), or in my main Marvel Universe (Earth 763). It's it's own separate continuity. Enjoy!**

 _Earth 2662_

"I still don't like it." James Rhodes, AKA War Machine, said with a frown.

"Dully noted." Replied his lifelong friend and immediate superior, Tony Stark, the Director of SHIELD. He was presently wearing the standard blue SHIELD jumpsuit, which Rhodes at the moment was also wearing. "To tell the truth, I don't love it either. Frank Castle's definitely a crude one. But, he _does_ get results."

"He's got a _bodycount_ , I'll give him that." Rhodes said, still unconvinced that Frank Castle, AKA The Punisher, had any place in SHIELD's ranks. And least of all while wearing his own set of Starktech power armor. All told he wasn't the sort of man Rhodey would feel comfortable trusting a pistol or single-shot rifle to. Never mind one of the most dangerous weapons on the planet.

"I'm sorry, but aren't you the man calling himself 'War Machine'? Since when is killing bad guys distasteful to you?"

"That's not what I said and you know it." Rhodes retorted, his frown deepening. "I'm fine with Castle blowing up Hydra and AIM strongholds, and shooting a few other terrorists here and there. I do the same thing. But the difference is, _I_ still understand the value of taking targets in alive now and then. Well, Castle never does that. I understand the concept of considering negotiation before resorting to combat. Castle shoots first and asks questions never. _I_ respect protocol..."

"I get it." Tony said, cutting Rhodes off and shaking his head. "Like I said, Castle's crude. No doubt about it. And more than a little crazy. But I didn't recruit him for his personality or his charm. I recruited him because I wanted another soldier. And Frank Castle is still one of the best there is even now. He's the man I bring in when I want an enemy _destroyed_. Because to be honest, Rhodey...he's as good at that as _you_ are. Maybe even better."

"Careful, Tony." Rhodes warned. "You're skating on thin ice right about now."

"It's not a competition, Rhodey." Tony replied in his usual flippant manner. Rhodes would have been impressed by that ability to never get riled up even under pressure...if it didn't make him want to sock him.

Making a great effort to control himself and keep from losing his temper at the man who technically had the power to decide whether or not he still had a job, Rhodes said: "Look...all I'm saying is that I'm worried. Castle is _dangerous,_ Tony. The Frank Castle who was the good soldier that did his duty, he died with his family. The _Punisher_ is something different."

"You're not wrong." Tony conceded before adding quickly: "But I still think I can make use of him, and until such time as I decide otherwise, he stays."

Rhodes sighed. He should have known the minute he walked in to complain that this would happen, but he'd still dared to hope that the could talk sense into Tony Stark. But, as had usually been the case over the years, he'd failed. Tony's narcissism made for a durable shield against even his most rational arguments and objections.

Nevertheless, Rhodes reluctantly saluted and said: "Yes, sir." But, still looking to push his luck, he added: "But I still don't like it."

-X-

Searing hot beams of red plasma that sliced through the Hydra Dreadnoughts like their titanium shells were warm butter. Heat-seeking micro-rockets that blew away anything and anyone they hit. Built-in machine guns that turned Hydra's never-ending swarms of nameless, faceless goons in green into red fertilizer.

Frank Castle was in his element.

Hydra's forces returned fire of course, but their gunfire and even anti-armor rounds simply couldn't get past the armor that Tony Stark had made as a labor of love. Whereas conversely, anything Punisher fired out of his suit, even the most vanilla and "mild" of his armaments, never failed to kill. Just how he liked it.

A particularly large, green suit of power armor that represented Hydra's latest and greatest piece of weapons tech (and also a blatant attempt to imitate Tony's armors), managed to punch Punisher right in his helmeted head, striking hard enough to actually knock the helmet off and send Punisher flying hundreds of yards and through buildings, trees, and even a nearby radio tower.

"Ugh...well, I felt _that._ "

But still conscious, Punisher got back up, activated his armor's rocket boots and made up the distance he'd travelled in mere moments, his missiles and plasma beams firing away the entire time. More Hydra troops fell to them, but his main target of the Hydra power armor weathered the barrage. It swung out with one of it's massive arms, but this time Punisher was ready for it, and flew out of the way. Putting some more distance between himself and the power armor, Punisher continued his barrage, but still Hydra's newest toy wouldn't break.

 _Damn...they actually did a decent job building this one..._

Turning it's attentions to him once more, the Hydra Power Armor raised its massive green metal fists and opened them to reveal enormous glowing blue circles in the centers. Punisher's eyes widened.

 _Just like Iron Man's repulser blasts..._

Punisher nearly didn't move out of the way in time, but he did, and the massive blue beams of energy completely vaporized the chimney on the building that had been behind Punisher. There was nothing left of it except dust and a few pebbles.

Circling around and continuing to unload micro-missiles and plasma beams, Punisher at last seemed to be damaging the thing's green shell, but even then the power armor wouldn't go down, and fired out more of it's particularly lethal variant of Iron Man's repulser blasts, a few stray beams even vaporizing the corpses of dead Hydra men.

Deciding he was going at it all wrong, Punisher flew around and went at the Hydra power armor from behind. Grabbing the sides of it's helmet with his gauntlets, he planted his boots onto the armor's back and then heaved with all the superhuman strength the armor gave him, also firing off his jet boots at the same time to give himself more momentum.

That did it; with a resounding snapping sound, Punisher at last deprived the oyster of it's maddeningly durable shell, revealing the scared little man that lay within. As Punisher threw the power armor's helmet away, the Hydra goon inside whimpered.

"I surrender..."

Punisher fired a red plasma beam at his head without a second thought.

-X-

"I hear Punisher wiped out an entire Hydra cell yesterday." Said Harold "Happy" Hogan, AKA Iron Man to Rhodey the day following Punisher's victory over the Hydra power armor. "And that was including a new toy Hydra got for themselves. Tony's looking at it in his lab right now."

"That's...good news." Rhodes said reluctantly, before saying: "No survivors again, I take it?"

Happy Hogan scoffed. "You kidding? This is _Punisher_ we're talking about. Didn't leave a one alive. But hey, at least we got the armor, right? Now Tony can analyze it and look for weaknesses. Neutralize Hydra's advantage before they even get it."

"Yes, that would be good..." Rhodes said, but his tone lacked enthusiasm. Mainly because he had a suspicion that the total lack of survivors hadn't been necessary; that Punisher had gone on ahead and taken it upon himself to kill even men who would have been open to surrender.

But of course, he _also_ knew that he had no way to prove it, and so Punisher would be able to keep on doing what he was doing without consequences.

And the more _that_ sunk in, the more unhappy James Rhodes became.

 _The man's above the law now. It's unbelievable. At least the rest of us are supposed to answer to the United Nations in part. But Castle doesn't even seem to let **that** stop him..._

-X-

Elsewhere, in an undisclosed location, Hydra's leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker was spitting nails.

"I thought you said the new power armor could defeat the Punisher!" He roared in his thick German accent. "That it could defeat _any_ of Stark's tin men!"

"I...I...thought it could..." The AIM scientist said lamely. Snarling, Strucker drew his pistol and put a hole in the man's yellow helmet...and his head.

"Get rid of the garbage." He ordered to two of his Hydra henchmen. As they dragged the body of the dead AIM scientist away, Strucker holstered his pistol and turned away in disgust.

"Why can't I beat these simpletons in armor!?" He fumed. "No matter what weapons Hydra calls upon, what technologies, we always lose!" He shook his head. "Perhaps I am going at this all wrong..."

Strucker thought about it. Every time he'd tried to match Tony Stark's armored warrior's power, he lost. Those suits that Tony Stark made with such love and care and the best weapons his bottomless pockets could afford, were simply too powerful. And traditional EMPs didn't work either, because Stark had made sure to protect all of his suits from such a thing. Strucker would need some other, more subtle way of stopping the armors...

Then it occurred to him; suits of that sort would undoubtedly use a great deal of power. So much power, in fact, that it had to come from some place significant...

 _"Of course"._ Strucker said, eyes widening. Those Starktech satellites. _They_ must be what the armors were connected to, which would explain how they could stay so powerful at all times without ever seeming to have to worry about a power drain or needing to recharge. As long as the satellites were functional, so too would the armors be.

Baron Strucker smiled cruelly. He'd been wanting to destroy those damned things for a while now anyway, just to spite SHIELD's director. Now he saw that he could kill two birds with the same stone.

 _Excellent. Just excellent. But how to do it though? That is the question..._

-X-

Frank Castle sat back in his chair, as he did looking at the suit of power armor in it's display case. Ready for the next time he needed it. Also on display near it were plenty of guns that, he realized, he hadn't used in a while.

Frank considered that. Truth be told, he somewhat missed the feeling of a good-old-fashioned gun in his hands. But he was also not the sort of man to let sentiment get in the way of the mission. And the mission always demanded the best weaponry and technology he could get his hands on. And at present, that was his suit of black Starktech armor with a white skull logo on the front.

Nevertheless, Punisher reasoned, it couldn't hurt to keep in practice with his guns. Just in case.

As he took one and went to the firing range on the SHIELD Helicarrier to practice, his mind thought back to the day when he'd first been recruited by Tony Stark, a little over a year ago...

 _"You're not an easy man to find, Frank Castle." Tony Stark had said as he stood before Punisher, who at the moment was in handcuffs and with a dozen machine guns and sniper rifles all aimed at his chest and head._

 _Punisher had scoffed at this. "No one's hard for SHIELD to find. You've got eyes and ears everywhere."_

 _"You'd be surprised." Director Stark said before continuing: "Castle, it's like this; I don't like vigilantes. Nobody in SHIELD does. But I'm also a pragmatist; I recognize a talented soldier when I see one. And I know that what you want most is to kill the bad guys. Well between both of those things, I think we can work something out."_

 _Punisher raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Like...?"_

 _"A partnership of sorts. You join SHIELD and work for me, and I can promise that you'll be outfitted with the best weapons and armor I've got, and have license to blow up any bad guys I decide the world's better off without. And trust me when I say that, the kinds of threats we at SHIELD deal with, you'll have more criminals and terrorists to kill than you could **possibly** know what to do with."_

 _Punisher hadn't needed long to think about it. Especially when he'd be looking at prison if he turned down the get-out-of-jail-free card being put in his face._

 _"Alright." Punisher had said. "I'll do it."_

Punisher had done well in the time since; whether he admitted it or not, the vigilante had never had so much fun. The resources of SHIELD and the power of the Starktech armor had combined to make wiping out criminals by the score both possible and remarkably easy, not to mention immensely satisfying. The war on crime that he had consigned himself to ages ago now seemed winnable after all.

Punisher arrived at the firing range on the SHIELD Helicarrier and fired at each of the targets lined up in front of him. Perfect headshots and chest shots every time without fail. Not even a near-miss.

Punisher smiled at that with cold satisfaction. He still had it. Good. Mustn't ever become so dependent on the armor that he'd be helpless without it.

As he left though, he saw his least favorite coworker waiting for him outside the firing range, outside his armor and arms folded across his chest. As was always the case when looking at Punisher, Rhodes had a look of utter disapproval on his face.

"What do you want, Rhodes?" Castle asked coldly as he kept walking.

"My waiting for you didn't make it obvious? I'm here to talk, Castle."

"About what?"

"SHIELD techs recovered the helmet of the Hydra Power Armor you took out as well as the main suit. Turns out the helmet had a video feed in it...one that recorded you killing the pilot while he was helpless and surrendering."

Punisher stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly to look at Rhodes and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You planning to blackmail me, Rhodes? Or are you just going to tell the teacher I was a bad boy like the good little straight arrow you are?"

"Tempting ideas, but no. First I want to know just what it is that makes you think you can ignore the rules even while fighting to enforce them."

Punisher scoffed. "He was a Hydra thug. One of countless, nameless idiots those terrorists and murderers have got working for them. You really think anyone's going to miss him?"

"That's not the point, Castle. He was beaten and he was surrendering. And you killed him. That's murder."

There was a pause before Punisher said: "You ever hear of 'My Lai', Rhodes? _Lot_ of murders there."

"This isn't Vietnam, and other servicemen disgracing the uniform is no excuse for doing it yourself. You know I read your record; Iraq and Afghanistan both, served with distinction. Got the second highest medal a serviceman can get in war time behind the Congressional Medal of Honor."

Punisher merely scoffed again. "They gave one of _those_ to Thaddeus Ross."

"Yes, I objected to that personally." Rhodes said. "Again, one man disgracing the uniform doesn't mean they _all_ should."

"Frank Castle the soldier boy is dead, Rhodes. Thought you knew that by now."

"I did, but you're with SHIELD now. It wouldn't be the worst thing if he could come back."

"Well, he's not. I joined SHIELD for two reasons; to get your bigger guns and to avoid jail. But the mission is unchanged. The guilty still need punishing."

Rhodes' face took on a disappointed, though also not surprised, expression. "And that's your decision?"

Punisher nodded. "I'm not stopping, Rhodes. Not until I get killed myself."

Rhodes sighed. "Well then...I guess that's it."

Punisher raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I _could_ blow the whistle on you, Castle. But we both know that Tony will be willing to cover up for you, so long as you keep getting results and no innocents are killed, which of course you'll never do. So, I guess that's that."

Punisher frowned. It wasn't like Rhodes to give up this easily, and he was too cynical to not be suspicious of seeming good fortune in any case. He'd need to keep an eye on Rhodes going forwards, something he wasn't looking forward to at all but also knew to be necessary.

For now though, he'd just let the matter drop. "Yeah...that's that..."

-X-

"We've got a problem, Director Stark."

These words brought SHIELD Director Tony Stark to the side of his Intelligence Officer, Virginia "Pepper" Potts. "What is it, Pepper?"

"There's an unidentified bogey flying towards one of our Satellites at a rapid speed."

"Can we zoom in on it? Figure out what it is?"

"It's going so fast it's difficult to pin it down. But I'm trying, Director Stark..."

Sure enough, it did take a few moments before the scanners and monitors were able to get a clear picture. In fact, it was only as the bogey neared the satellite that the satellite's own cameras picked up what it was and transmitted it to Stark's Helicarrier:

"Another one of those Hydra power armors." Potts noted.

"Yes, but it looks like it has something on it..."

Seconds later, the power armor collided with the satellite and the feed went dead. Up in space, the entire satellite was destroyed by the nuclear payload that had been strapped to the back of the armor. The empty void of outer space stole some of the power of the nuke away from it, but it was still more than powerful enough to destroy the satellite.

"Damn them." Tony Stark said with a frown, before new alerts going off made him realize it was even worse than it seemed: "Director Stark! More unidentified bogeys are heading towards the other satellites! We think they're more of the Hydra power armors!"

Stark gave the order for the entire Iron Legion to mobilize and shoot down the armors before they reached their intended targets. At this, Hogan, Rhodes, Castle, and the rest all suited up into their respective suits of armor, all of which were vacuum-sealed so as to allow for survival in space. They all rocketed towards the stratosphere and then beyond to get at the power armors, but even so, they were a moment late:

Before the entire Iron Legion's eyes another of the Starktech satellites was destroyed in a blinding nuclear explosion. That left three others; there was one for each of the main members of the Iron Legion that also powered multiple armors of the Iron Legion's ancillary members. The ones for Michael O'Brien (AKA Guardsman) and Riri Williams (AKA Ironheart) were already gone. That just left the ones for Iron Man, War Machine, and Punisher.

"Shoot them down from a distance and aim for their payloads!" Punisher shouted. "Detonate them prematurely."

"Couldn't we just shoot the armors out of the sky without hitting their payloads and detonating them?" Ironheart asked as the Iron Legion flew after the last three, the Iron Legion splitting into three different groups so that each one could be dealt with simultaneously.

"No, their armors are too durable, I know that from experience." Punisher said. "We'll never shoot them down in time. Aim for the payloads, that's final!"

The other Iron Legion members obeyed and opened fire on the nuclear payloads strapped to the backs of the Hydra power armors. The first few shots missed due to the speed of the armors, but eventually, two of them were hit, prematurely detonating the payloads and completely vaporizing the armors that had been carrying them and leaving not a scrap of the metal left.

That just left the one headed for the satellite that powered War Machine's armor. The entire Iron Legion converged on it, but the Hydra power armor's pilot, perceiving that he was the last, dodged many of the shots amiably, and angled his armored form in such a way that his armor took the shots instead of the nuclear payload. However, so much ordnance leveled against him was more than even his power armor could take, and the pilot was bombarded with emergency warnings. Knowing he wouldn't make it the rest of the way, the pilot detached the nuclear payload...and threw it at the satellite before shooting at it.

" ** _HAIL_ _HYDRA!_ " **Shouted the Hydra pilot, before his exo-suit was finally pierced in full and several shots went through his suit and him, killing him instantly. Unfortunately, the damage was done.

The detonated nuclear explosion went off close enough to the satellite to destroy it, and unfortunately a few of the Iron Legion who were close to the detonation. Iron Man, War Machine, Punisher, Ironheart, Guardsman, and the rest managed to get clear in time, but the weight of their failure still weighed on them; three of the five satellites were gone, and until they got repaired all but Punisher and Iron Man had a finite amount of power for their suits.

As it is, they all scarcely had time to dwell on it, for it was around then that they received news that a large machine had appeared in the heart of New York City and was now destroying and killing most anything in it's path. Leaving Earth's orbit and heading straight to New York City, the Iron Legion saw a power armor that was fully three times the size of the Hydra power armors from before but otherwise had a similar design to it. And flanking it were two more people in suits of armor that looked much more like the Iron Legion's, only in green and brown with a clear wolf motif.

"Fenris 1, Fenris 2, kill the Iron Legion." Ordered the larger mech, which continued to obliterate cars and one-story buildings with missiles and blast civilians to bones with vaporizing beams. The voice's German accent gave the larger mech's pilot away as Baron Strucker, who was in fact remote controlling it from the safety of his Hydra lair.

"Ironheart, Guardsman, you take those two. Iron Man, you and your wingmen clear out civilians. Everyone else, bring that mech down!" War Machine ordered. Everyone did as instructed, Guardsman and Ironheart doing what they could against the Fenris duo, who were Strucker's children Andreas and Andrea. They proved relatively evenly matched with Ironheart and Guardsman, the two duos trading punches, energy blasts, and micro-rockets the whole while.

As Iron Man and two of the Iron Legion moved civilians out of the way as quickly as they could, War Machine, Punisher, and the rest kept unloading their combined firepower on Strucker's latest and greatest iteration of hi-tech armor. But this new suit was made of the same durable armor as the other exo-suits, and with an extra layer of vibranium tacked on for good measure. Simply put, it was withstanding the entire barrage. A retractable blade the width of two men came out of one of it's massive green gauntlets, and with a single swipe it cut two of the Iron Legion clean in half.

Strucker laughed at the grisly sight of their bodies falling as his armor continued to shrug off whatever was sent his way. High-powered energy blasts from the armor's palms killed several more members of the Iron Legion.

"It's no use, the armor's even stronger than the other ones." Punisher noted. "We gotta find another way to bring it down!"

"I'm open to suggestions!" War Machine shouted as he narrowly dodged another attack that killed another Iron Legion member instead.

Remembering how he had taken down the earlier Hydra power armor, Punisher decided to repeat the strategy, shouting out to War Machine: "Keep him busy! I've got an idea!"

War Machine frowned behind his helmet at the prospect of trusting any plan of Frank Castle's, but nevertheless decided to go with it. As he and the other Iron Legion members continued firing, Punisher flew around to get at the Hydra armor's helmet. Unfortunately, this time when Punisher tried to rip the helmet off with his earlier strategy, he took the head off instead.

The momentary shock this left Punisher with gave the armor the opening it needed to whack him hard enough to send him over a hundred yards and through several skyscrapers. The image of Baron Strucker then flickered to life on the chest of the armor.

" _I remote control this armor, fools. You cannot win by decapitation this time._ "

"Should have figured Castle's plan wouldn't work." War Machine said, shaking his head. Although, with the head now taken off, War Machine wondered if the inner circuits weren't now exposed and vulnerable. Unfortunately, when he tested this, a force-field appeared over the headless armor, keeping War Machine from raining machine gun bullets and micro-rockets into the thing's insides.

"Damn! Hydra bastards thought of everything this time around."

For his part, Punisher was already flying back into the fray on his jet boots, all the while thinking up a new plan; the new armor was really more a robot that was being remote controlled. It's armored hide had proven itself too durable for the straightforward approach to work, and his own decapitation strategy had similarly failed. He thought of maybe grabbing the robot and throwing it into space, but then he hit on an even better idea; a way to ensure that it wouldn't just fly back into action.

But for it work, he'd need to tell Director Stark and get him in on it. So with that in mind, Punisher broke off from the battle and radioed Tony Stark to tell him his plan.

By this point, Ironheart had fried Fenris 2's armor and blasted her through the stomach for good measure, killing her, while Guardsman had Fenris 1 in a grapple that he was steadily winning. Perceiving this, Fenris 1 called out to his father for help.

Turning to see his son in dire straits, and perceiving that Guardsman would indeed overcome him, Strucker remote activated a little..."surprise" he'd inserted into each of his children's armors.

A massive explosion that signified Fenris 1's armor self-destructing killed the man inside but also Guardsman too, and in fact was so powerful it destroyed the entire street the two men had been on, cars, pedestrians, and all.

" _Cut off one head, two more shall take it's place_." Baron Strucker said smugly, not at all bothered by how he'd just sacrificed his own son simply to get rid of an enemy plus a few extra civilians on the side. However, it was about then that a new armored form entered the scene, this one particularly large, bulky, and powerful.

Strucker's Hydra mech turned just in time to see it ram into him with the force of over a dozen howitzer cannon shots. The mech went tumbling backwards before it managed to get a better look at it's new foe: a massive, towering red and gold armored behemoth with a domed helmet for a head.

"No please, don't get up." Came the voice of Director Stark himself as he advanced slowly but purposefully. "I'll be quite happy to pummel you while you're down."

" _Stark."_ Strucker hissed as he forced his mech up. " _Taken to the field of battle personally, have you? And here I thought you were above dirtying your own hands. Too cowardly for it."_

"Tough talk from the guy _remote controlling_ his armor." Stark shot back with a sneer before readying a punch. "Be warned, I made this armor to deal with _The Hulk._ Not even your suit's lasting against it."

" _We shall see, Stark."_ Baron Strucker snarled before the Hydra mech charged the Hulkbuster. The two engaged in a grapple...which was exactly what Punisher's plan had called for.

"Now, Stark!" Punisher shouted. Eyes widening in horror, Strucker realized that the Hulkbuster was now lifting off the ground on it's own jet boots, flying off into the air with him in tow.

" _No! What are you doing? Put me down! Put me down, Stark!"_

"Rhodes, with me! Don't let him break free!" Stark cried.

By this point, War Machine was feeling low on power, his armor's reserves rapidly reaching only 50%. The battle had taken a lot out of it as each massive firing of weapons plus all the blocked energy blasts from the Hydra mech's gauntlets had steadily depleted him, now that he no longer had his personal satellite to rely on. The ancillary members of the Iron Legion too were feeling it, though they were mostly now helping evacuate civilians.

Still, War Machine knew his duty. He flew off along with Punisher, and Ironheart and Iron Man soon joined in as well. All four of them helped restrain the Hydra Mech to keep it from breaking free of the Hulkbuster's grip. Up, up, up they all went, and no matter how much power Strucker put into the Hydra mech, he could not break free, though his struggling _did_ cause Ironheart and War Machine's power to steadily diminish even further as they pumped more of their armor's energy into keeping the Hydra mech restrained.

At long last, they reached their destination; one of the remaining Starktech satellites. Specifically, the one Iron Man and the Hulkbuster's armor were powered by.

"NOW!" Punisher shouted.

They all let go of the Hydra mech and flew away from it, just as the satellite charged up a super-laser that had been built into it as means of raining death down on enemies from below. Not terribly effective against the earlier Hydra armors, which had been able to move out of the way.

But not this one. Not when it had taken enough damage as to be slower, and also when it had been pushed so close to the satellite.

The punishing super-laser was so powerful that not even the vibranium was spared; the entire thing was melted and slagged and then vaporized, leaving nothing left of the Hydra mech at all.

And when Baron Strucker realized he'd been beaten yet again, the halls of his Hydra lair echoed with his roars of fury.

-X-

"Well done today, Castle." Director Stark said, shaking his hand. "Your strategies and quick-thinking were what won us the day today. And with Strucker having expended both his nuclear bombs _and_ his latest and best power armors, he should be weaker than ever. We now have a golden opportunity to shut him down for good, if we can find him."

"I take it you're already working on that?" Punisher asked.

"Of course. We'll let you know if and when we find anything." He smiled. "I want you leading the charge when we do."

Punisher nodded his understanding of that and then was off. As he left, War Machine wordlessly watched him go before turning to Tony Stark: "Well, I have to admit: he _did_ do a good job out there. We probably never would have won if it weren't for him."

"Exactly. I know you don't like him..."

"No I don't, but I didn't join SHIELD or the military before it to make friends. I still think he's a loose cannon, but at least he's a loose cannon that can still fire straight when it counts the most. I can do my job alongside him, Tony, if that's what you're wondering. Especially after today. But don't expect me to become buddy-buddy with him."

"I never expected that." Tony said, shaking his head. There was a pause before Rhodes said: "So...you got to actually wear one of your own suits for a change."

Tony chuckled at that. "Yeah. Not my first time, actually. Remember I used to wear the Iron Man armor before I gave it to Happy. Before I inherited SHIELD from my dad."

Rhodes nodded his understanding. "I know. Still, it's been so long I guess I just took that for granted."

"I'll admit it was fun getting to be hands on again. Felt like old times."

"So you meant what you said? About letting Castle get first crack at Strucker, I mean?"

"I did. I take it you want in on it too?"

"Of course I do. Bastard killed O'Brien. And his own son and Lord knows how many civilians at the same time too. You better believe I want to take him down."

"Well, you'll get your chance soon, Rhodey. I've got Pepper trying to trace the signal Strucker was sending to the mech so that he could control it. With any luck, we'll be able to follow it back to wherever he's been hiding."

However, no sooner had Stark said this did Pepper summon him and War Machine to her work station. When they got there, she showed them that, yes, she _had_ pinpointed where the signal had originally come from. But she _also_ found that one of their Iron Legion armors was already heading there.

And everyone present knew exactly who it was.

-X-

 _Punisher's Journal, June 25th, 2018._

 _Stark thinks I don't keep any secrets from him, but he's never learned about Micro; my own little source of information and dirt for when I decide that SHIELD works too slow. He's been working with me since back when I was on the streets of New York City with a gun in my hands and a curse on my lips for every crook. Years before I'd ever even seen my Iron Legion armor._

 _No sooner was Strucker's last big tin can on the scene and I realized it was being remote-controlled did I contact Micro. I told him to trace the signal so that I'd know just where it was coming from before anyone else did. As always, Micro's good at his job. Strucker's holed up in Azerbaijan of all places. Flying there wasn't hard. Neither was breaking in. Thankfully, none of them were expecting me. Of course, with all of their armors destroyed now, they couldn't have done much to prepare for me either way._

 _The Hydra base is a smoldering ruin now. Every last one of it's heads has been cut off, including the biggest and oldest one of them all. I blasted Strucker to pieces a bit at a time, slowly, for what he did to New York today. Made his death last just long enough for him to realize what happens to scum who murder the innocent in front of me._

 _Stark and especially Rhodes won't be happy of course. They'll read me the riot act probably, or something similar enough. I don't care. Especially since I know Stark won't take this armor away from me. Because whether he admits it or not, I did what he wanted, which was to take down Strucker and his base and men along with him. As for Rhodes, he can't do anything to stop me, since he knows his boss won't do anything. He doesn't understand. He'll probably **never** understand. I don't arrest, I don't negotiate, and I **don't** show mercy._

 _I punish._

 **Author's Notes: Yes, Happy Hogan is Iron Man here, which isn't as weird as it sounds considering that in 616 Happy would sometimes fill in as Iron Man for Tony Stark. That's why I made him Iron Man here, to reference that.**

 **Likewise, Guardsman (Michael O'Brien) is an actual, little-known character in Iron Man lore, being the closest thing he ever had to a Robin unless you count War Machine.**


End file.
